i think that as payton, our oldest, told us, we gave him a bow and arrow, he has straw bails out back of the -- bales out back of the barn, and any time we he goes out, we say, look what's beyond your target, make sure you're not shooting in a direction toward a house or anyone behind there it does come down to awareness and responsibility and making sure that any time you're shooting whether it's a bow and arrow or whether it's a baseball, for that matter, throwing a baseball or shooting a firearm, this there is an awareness always around you. i know we see a lot of the tragedies that happen in cities, whether it could be from a stray bullet, and that's where we need to continue to focus on those people whether it's through churches, through charityability organizations, through schools, education, and helping people

understand the great responsibility that comes with firearms. so i feel fortunate to be raised on a farm where i could start at a young age. i was taught the lessons of responsibility with gun ownership and we're teaching the same with payton and preston and fun in that point of the enjoyment of having a firearm as you're out in the woods or wherever you're at but it also goes deeper than that. i think that's why the second amendment goes to the very heart of america. . obviously the men who fought in the revolutionary war needed to have access to guns to defend themselves and to -- against the red coats at the time.

so when -- they obvious had to learn the same thing and it wasn't just to defend themselves from another army. there was a tool used to provide food for themselves. we are very fortunate in so many ways that we don't have the responsibilities in using a gun on a daily basis like people used to. so with that, people don't use a firearm as often and have the responsibility to make sure they are trained when they do purchase one and recognizing those that are around them when using them. it goes to the heart of us as americans and defending our freedom. that is what thomas jefferson mentioned about the second amendment. mrs. hartzler: it is a deterrent from any government who would take on their citizens and look at this list i was sharing, two pages of people in countries

that have very high murder rates and i feel for the people of those countries. i can't imagine what that would be like to live in a country where you are basically helpless, you and your family are helpless. you are totally open to and vulnerable to anyone whether it's somebody in government or a rogue government or a criminal who wants to do yourself or family harm and you don't have that ability to protect yourself. so i would like now to hear from my good friend from florida, and i appreciate your support of the second amendment and i would love to hear what you have to share. mr. yoho: mr. speaker or madam speaker -- the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady's time has expired. mrs. hartzler: thank you very much. i appreciate it. the speaker pro tempore: under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair

recognizes the gentleman from 30 fornia, mr. vargas for minutes. mr. vargas: i ask unanimous consent to address the house. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california is recognized. mr. vargas: thank you very much, madam speaker. i do rise today to speak on our nation's need for comprehensive immigration reform. i did want to congratulate marlin stutzman and his family. what a beautiful family. and it was a delight looking over and seeing both boys. what a terrific family. i do come today to thank the faith community in this country that has come together around comprehensive immigration reform. it's been interesting to see how literally every denomination and every faith group has come

together and said that we must have comprehensive immigration reform because of the values that they have as religious people and religious groups, but also the values we share as americans. i want to thank all of the groups that have been praying for us. that have come to the capitol to speak to us to say open up your hearts, open up your minds and take a look at the stranger among you. and i would like to read a letter that i received yesterday, i think puts it into context in the judeo-christian context and that was from rabbi stern, los angeles, california. he wrote this. he addressed it to me and said congressman vargas, among the fundamental stories of the jewish people is the classic telling of the experience of slavery in egypt. the story is not only told each

year during the passover sadr held by jews around the world but is referenced repeatedly as the rationale for many jewish ethical programs. the story teaches us we were strangers in a strange land and powerless immigrants with no choice but to rely upon the grace and mercy of others who had not only power over us, but sometimes over our lives. the truth of the exodus story of the jewish people is eternal because we have been wanderers n lands that were not our own. rabbi stern says, subsequent to the exodus story, the first encounter occurred nearly 25 years ago in the land of babylonia and we learned the strength that comes when people exit the shadows and able to

take its light in the nation's destiny. a vibrant jewish community thrived there for thousands of years of citizens of a persian nation. elsewhere in the world over the centuries. jews encountered wandering, ruthlessness and powerlessness in europe, russia and northern africa, with each move we endured, never fully welcomed in a land that benefited from our labor and our skills. he goes on and says, the all too infrequent errors of instability, security and peace were welcomed aisles of har money that allowed our people to prosper. because of our history, because of our collective memory of wandering as immigrants in lands that were not our own from birth. because we were wanderers who traveled to nations looking for better for the tunes and left

nations where for the tunes ayou lewded us, the jewish peop embrace to others who seek the very security that we often sought for ourselves. now that we have found peace, comfort, stability and strength in this great country, we demand nothing less than that for others who seek these essential components of life for themselves and for their families. he then concludes like this, he seas says, 11 million immigrants have cared for our children, attended our schools, worked in our factories, fought our wars, frequented our businesses and made our way of life possible. the time is now for those who have become a part of our american fabric to be given a place in our society that we cherish for ourselves as well. citizens of the united states of america.

sincerey rabbi ron stern. i want to thank rabbi stern. i think that he along with so many others have really set the stage for something that i think that is not only overdue ba what we are going to do and that is look into our hearts and we are going to see that the stranger among us is not so strange. it was interesting that the rabbi mentioned, fought our wars. for those of us who have been working with immigrants, i think probably the saddest things that -- the saddest occurances that we have encountered are these, when military men and women have spouses who are undocumented. a good example and i gave this story before and i'll give it again because it was so compelling. here in the capitol on the

senate side, we heard testimony, army rd testimony from an soldier who unfortunately had been injured. he came home and his wife is taking care of him and his young family. and what he's had to do is he has had to line the car, the windows and all over the car with stickers that say injured soldier. go army. and all sorts of other stickers that show that he is someone who went and fought for us overseas. and the reason he does this, he says, is because he doesn't want to get pulled over for some small traffic violation because his wife is the only one that's able to drive and she could be deported because she's undocumented. and probably even more compelling, we had afterwards, a

member of the marines come forward and say, tragically that he is fearful when he is sent overseas, but not of dying. he said he served two tours, two tours of duty in iraq. and he said that he was scared the whole time he was there, but not of what i thought, he says you wouldn't guess. and he says i'm going back now to afghanistan, and i have the same fear. you know what his fear is? his fear is not of dying, interestingly and starkly. he said that's what marines do, we fight and we die. i'm not afraid of that. i'm afraid that my wife will get deported because she's undocumented. i'm afraid my wife will get deported. that's what his fear is. and he says what then will happen to not ornl my wife but to -- not only to my wife but to

my children. i'm defending our liberty and at the same time, my wife could get to deported to a nation she doesn't know anymore. she came as a child. how is that fair? that's not fair, of course that's not fair, but i think more and more of us are hearing these stories and i thank him for his bravery to come forward because it does put his family in peril because she could get deported. but i thank him and other brave members of the military that have come forward and given us their story. and i have heard from many. i would like to share with you a letter written by the evaluation gel call table to us here in the united states congress. deer mr. speaker, congratulations and your campaign teams on your election victories. our nation faces many great

challenges and opportunities. we pray that god will lead and guide your steps and provide you with the wisdom during the years ahead. as evangelical leaders, we live every day with the reality that our immigration system does not reflect our commitment to the values of human dignity, family unity and respect for the rule of law that define us as americans. initiatives by both parties to fix immigration policies has stalled in the years past. again referring to both of our leaders, with your leadership, this can change. in the next congress, republicans and democrats need to come together to pass and implement a national immigration sfrat guy that addresses our nation's broken immigration system. we commit to supporting you. we are already working across the country to educate and

mobilize our fellow evangelical christians to support just immigration laws. support for reform is growing in our churches, denominations, campuses and communities. it is and we see here it here at the capitol, we see more and more church groups, pastors, coming and speaking to us and speaking to us in a very united way in a very compassionate way and value u.s.-filled way saying we have to do something. and i thank them again for that. they go on, we stand ready to support legislation that reflects our christian values that builds the common good. we are driven by moral obligation rooted deeply in our of h to address the needs immigrants in our country, compassionate and just treatment of immigrants is a frequent topic in the scripture. the help brew word for immigrant

occurs 92 times throughout the bible. we request that you meet personally with leadership from the evangelical immigration table in the first 92 days in the next congress to discuss bipartisan immigration reform legislation that, one, guarantees secure national borders, two, respects the god-given dignity of every person. three, ensures fairness to taxpayers. four, protects the unity of the immediate family. five, establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and those who wish to become permanent residents. and number six, respects the rule of law. . the

principles reflect a growing convergence with the position of other religious, civic, business, labor and law enforcement leaders. we urge you to reach across the aisle and to work to create a bipartisan solution that reflects our values, creates just and humane immigration laws and moves us forward together. the letter was signed by lief anderson, the president of the national association of evangelicals, steven, president and c.e.o. of world relief, david beckman, president, bread or the worrell, noel castellanos, robert guildleson, president conservatives for comprehensive immigration reform, richard lan, president, ethics and liberties commission of the southern baptist convention, samuel rodriguez, president of the national

hispanic christian leadership conference, gabriel, national latino evangelical coalition, world vision united states, and jim wallace, president and c.e.o. of sojourners. so why have all of these evangelical leaders and why have so many other faith groups come together and say -- said with a unified voice that we have to have comprehensive immigration reform? they say the reason is because of their values, because they believe in the bible and they believe that the stranger among us must be treated as ourselves. in fact, interestingly, some of hem quote i will vit cuss -- livitikus, you should love the stranger as you love yourselves because you have to remember you once were strangers too in the land of egypt. so i thank all of all of these religious leaders, all of these

faith communities that have come together and interestingly, i can't recall another time when you've had so religious faith groups, pastors, reverends, rabbis, come together with one voice and say this is the path forward. we all agree. but we have it here. and the nice thing about it is i think we are getting to a point where we are going to agree that we have to have comprehensive immigration package that reflects the values that they spoke to, the values that we hold dear as americans, and i think we are going to get there. and i think -- thank each and every one that praise for us. i am a person of faith. i do believe prayers work. i can feel their fervent prayers here. we can all feel them here. it's a wonderful hinge.

i do want -- it's a wonderful thing. i do want to read a few more letters and a few more quotes from these same evangelical leaders, because i think it's important to get a feel for how unanimous they are that we have to have comprehensive immigration reform that really reflects our best values, our better angels. so here's a press release from the evangelical leaders to amplify the call for bipartisan immigration reform with radio ads and they're doing these in key states. dr. richard lann, president, ethics and religious commission, southern baptist convention. evangelical christians who listen to christian radio tend to be politically engaged. reaching them with this message about god's heart for immigrants rooted in biblical values will be absolutely

critical for building the political will we need to pass meaningful reforms in 2013. our political leaders need to hear from our constituents and from their constituents and know that evangelical christians are strongly behind them if they have the moral courage to act on the values we see in matthew 25 and other places in the scripture concerning welcoming the stranger, end of quote. land. dr. richard in fact, we're also hearing from dr. richard land and other leaders in the evangelical churches that have come here to say, if you have any distrust in your heart for the immigrant, the stranger, or even hate, put it aside. put it aside.

instead, follow your heart and understand that the immigrant, the stranger among you, deserves your love, your attention, your values. and i think it's happening here. again, i don't think it's by accident. i think it's by their prayers. i think it's by them coming together with the united voice and saying we have to do what is right. and i thank them. i'd like to read now from reverend dr. booth senior pastor of the first baptist orlando. the reason i want to read pastor's notes is because the pastor not only talks about -- he comes from a particular area, orlando. this is his quote. there is a consistent message throughout scripture and it's a command to welcome and to treat fairly all people, but especially the stranger and the foreigner in your land.

when we fail to welcome the tranger, in essence we fail to welcome christ. and so christians in our church, when they learn about god's heart for the immigrant and what the bible has to say, their hearts are open because we are a people of faith, and it is our desire to live our faith in our world. coupled with that, when they meet these immigrants, when they have personal encounters, all of a sudden this issue has a face. it has a story. and it is in that meeting that transformation happens and has happened here for us and we know that the time is now for this discussion. and i thank the pastor and i thank him because he's right, but i also thank him because i think his prayers are being answered. i think the prayers of his

congregation are being answered. we are coming together and we are coming together in a bipartisan way. there are many other things that we disagree on, and i've been here not very long, but i can already tell you there are a lot of things we disagree on. but more and more are coming together around the issue of comprehensive immigration reform. and we're coming together because it's the right thing to do. in fact, the voices now, they're few and they're shrill, seem to be a real outlier now, they seem to be far out. nowhere in the mainstream. instead, we're down to the nitty gritty and we're trying to fit out the small things, and i think that's very good. i think that's healthy. and i appreciate, again, the cannedor that we've had -- candor that we've had on this discussion -- madam leader, it's great to see you here. it's always a pleasure. and it is a pleasure also to

have the discussion on immigration. be so humane, values based. but also some of the interests around the country are coming together too. i sit on the agricultural committee and we were having a meeting on horticulture and specialty crops. and almost immediately the discussion went to comprehensive immigration reform because it's one of the most important things for the agricultural community. and interestingly, they said that the bill in the senate is not perfect. the bill that we're going to produce here is not perfect, but it's getting close. and they're saying there's a lot of agreement between those that work in the field and represent them and those that are the farmers. when do you see that? it seldom happens. again, i think it's happening because of the prayers of the pastors. i do want to read a few more of them because they've sent so many to my office and also i do

appreciate what they're doing. they're making a difference here. i also want to show it's not only in orlando or one part of the country, it's all over the country, the pastors, the religious groups are coming together to pray for us, to encourage us to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform. so i'd like to read from reverend dr. flemming, senior pastor, champion baptist church in houston, texas. this is a quote. we begin now to see immigrants as us. we live together. we work together. we serve together. we are all in this together, and the notion of welcoming the outsider and the stranger and inviting them in has been key to that. we see the immigrant as a person created in the image of god. they're husbands and wives and parents, their children

oftentimes our broken immigration system causes great suffering in the homes and families and in the people's lives. i believe that my experience has been here in texas that conservative christians and evangelicals are rising to support a biblical approach to this very complex issue. and i thank him and i thank dr. reverend david flemming, soon yor pastor, champion baptist church in houston for his courage, for his prayers, for his encouragement, for his heart and for his insight. i think it's very inciteful. we're beginning -- i want to quote him. we're beginning now to see immigrants as us. we work together, we serve together. we're all in this together. and the notion of welcoming the outsider and the stranger and inviting them in has been key to that. in fact, they have been invited

in. i've had the great honor now to eak to many pastors and evan gelization -- has happened. now in fact, as the earlier the marine that i spoke of as well as the soldier oftentimes they meet their spouses in church. they get married. and then we put them in the situation if they legally want to live together their spouse has to leave the country for 10 years. can you imagine that? the marine who is again going to be deployed overseas for his wife to be here legally, she would have to leave the country for 10 years. what would she do with the children? does she take them with her? they're american citizens. does she go to this country she really doesn't know any more?

how can that be right? how can that be fair? how can that be just? how can that be christian? how can those be our values? they're not our values. that's why i thank dr. pastor david flemming for stepping forward and saying it's time hat we change. i happen to be a catholic so i'd like to quote the archbishop of los angeles, i'd like to quote him and he says this. our collective faith groups are prepared to support just and humane reform of a broken immigration system with the president's leadership and cooperation between both parties in congress, we can achieve this goal within the year. we agree with the president and the bipartisan senate leaders who are stressing the importance of a path to citizenship, for the undocumented. we should not sanction a

permanent underclass in our society. never to correct an archbishop but i would add the good work that's being done bipartisanly here, too, in this house, in the congress, and you will soon see a bill and i thank and i pray every day for the members of that group that are working hard, often under great stress, to come forward with a bill, a change in the law that represents our better angels, that represents our values as americans, as christians, as jews, as people of faith. so i thank them. i'd also like to quote reverend samuel rodriguez, president of the national hispanic christian leadership conference. quote, today's meeting invigorated me with hope and faith and optimism. the president's resolve and conjestion -- in conjunction, excuse me, with evangelical support facilitate the prescription for a comprehensive resolution

addressing america's immigration crisis. prayer vinced that with and prophetic activism we will live out matthew 5 and welcome the stranger in the name of -- matthew 25 and welcome the stranger in the name of jesus. he quotes matthew 25. matthew 25, of course, is the judgment. jesus says how we will be judged as a nation. and he says, when i was hungry, you gave me to eat. when i was thirsty, you gave me to drink. when i was naked, you clothed me. when i was ill, you cured me. when i was a stranger, you welcomed me. when i was a prisoner, you visited me. and the last, when do we do that, jesus? when you did it to the least of my brothers.

that's what reverend samuel rodriguez was quoting. it is so profoundly, profoundly who we are, the welcoming of the stranger, christ among us. madam speaker, i know i don't have much time left and i appreciate the time i was given today to speak to my colleagues thatpeak to a larger crowd i have great faith, i have great faith that we are coming together and we are coming together in a way that we will produce a bill that we can all be proud of and hopefully we will all support and will have bipartisan support and won't be an accident. it will be because of the prayers of these pastors. it will be because of the courage of rabbi stern. it will be because of all the encouragement we have received from the faith communities

outside of this house. it is because of their fervent love and support for the immigrant that the stranger, that we will have a just law. and i thank them. and madam speaker, thank you for the opportunity today. and i, again, thank you. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. under the speaker's announced policy of january 3, 2013, the chair recognizes the gentleman from arizona, mr. franks, for 30 minutes. thank you, madam speaker. madam speaker, there was a time when the rules of congress forbid anyone to petition this congress against slavery. for some inex politicable sees , once in a while it

mankind becomes blind to a monstrosity. history is replete with examples and it seems we are never quite so eloquent when we decry the crimes of a past generation and yet we seem as staggering blind as some of our most sightless predecessors when it comes to facing and rejecting atrocities in our own time. whether it was slavery, the nazi holocaust or the many human genocides across history, the patterns were the same. innocent human beings, children of god all were dehumanized and en subjected to the most horrifying inhuman ants. souls hardened their hearts and turned away. but madam speaker, truth and time travel on the same road. and although it was often

agonizingly slow, the truth of these tragic inhumanities began to dawn on people of reason and goodwill. their hearts first and then their minds began to change. i have often asked myself, what was it that changed their minds? what changed the minds of those who had previously embraced an invincible ignorance to hide from themselves the horror of what was happening to their innocence, fellow human beings. madam speaker, if i only knew or if i knew how to express it, because you see today, such looms before humanity once again. those most glaring examples of which are things like the trial goznel.delphia of dr. in the words of the grand jury report, he had a simple solution for unwanted babies. he killed them.

he didn't call it that, madam speaker. he called it, quote, ensuring fetal demise. the way he ensured that was by sticking scissors in the back of the baby's neck and cutting the spinal cord. he called it snipping. over the years there were hundreds of quote, snippings. when authorities entered his clinic, they found a torture chamber for little babies that i do not have the words or the stomach to adequately describe. sufficient ice it to say that in hisnel ran a practice late term abortion clinic to cut the spines of those babies who survived his attempt to abort them. every american with the slightest shred of compassion for the innocents should learn the truth of this themselves because perhaps the greatest

tragedy of all surrounding this case is that it is not as rare as those in the media tried to convince us. dr. peter a.j. adam, an associate professor at pediatrics at case western iversity reported to the american pediatric research society concerning research he and associates had conducted on 12 babies up to 20 weeks old, who had been born alive from abortion. these men decap tated these little babies and then shut off the carotid arteries and kept them alive in order to study them. the spines had been completely sliced through and the painful agony they were feeling is

beyond our imagination, madam speaker. americans were outraged when they learned the russians had kept the heads of dogs alive in the 1950's. yet, when asked peter adam, responded to the criticism of keeping these human heads alive, he responded by saying, quote, our society has declared the fetus dead and abrogated its rights. i don't see any ethical problem. whose rights we are going to protect once we decide the fetus won't live? in another case, madam speaker, dr. hyatt, the doctor from abortion who severed the arm of a baby born alive is reportedly the first united states doctor to be jailed since the infamous 1973 roe versus wade decision. he was convicted of having knowingly old

baby girl she carried, the baby was born the next day but one of her arms was missing at the houlder because of dr. hyatt's botched abortion. he was convicted of aassault on the woman. he stopped to demand an additional $500. when the woman's husband couldn't come up with the additional money, she was sent home semi-conscious and still bleeding. madam speaker, my heart goes out to those like rosa rodriguez and especially to her who sooner or later had to face the question from her baby daughter, mommy, where is my arm? oh, mr. speaker, it begs human imagination to try to take in the crushing emotional burden that the abortion industry in this country has heaped upon so many american mothers.

madam speaker, i will not expound upon the cases of dr. scott rickey or abortionist roy wise berg in wooden hills, california. however i will tell you that they involved thousands of unborn children, many of them in their third trimester which can be described as a december creation of unborn babies. would it be too much to hope for that members of this body and americans in general might research these tragedies for themselves, given the implications for any society who turns a blind eye to such atrocities against the most innocent and helpless of its members. if our society is to survive with our humanity intact, our moral impulse to our fellow human beings must first survive. it's so important for people to see for themselves the

inhumanity of what is being done to these little victims. maybe it would not change e's mind, but it has changed many minds. one such example gained a lot of media coverage. abby johnson worked nine years at at planned parenthood clinic. at one point she was asked to assist during a routine abortion procedure. amazingly, this was the first time in the nine years that abby had actually watched an abortion being performed on an ultrasound. she recounts holding the instrument over the mother's midsection and displaying the baby's movements and watched as the abortion succeeded and the unborn attempted to escape the probe. she said i could see the profile of the baby, i could see the

probe and the baby trying to move away from the probe and i just thought, what am i doing. and then i thought, never again. two weeks later looking out the clinic window seeing two members, johnson walked out of the clinic and joined them and has never looked back. there was the case of brend after schaffer, a nurse who was radically abortion, that they would be forced to have an abortion if they got pregnant. three days working in an abortion clinic was more than she could handle. she speaks of going in her final day and watching as the doctor perform three partial birth abortions and one on a six-month-old baby boy with down's syndrome. his little fingers class pping and unclass pping and his feet kicking before the vacuum tube was inserted into his head and

then discarded as if it were nothing more than a rag. she said, i have been a nurse for a long time and i have seen a lot of death. people maimed in auto accidents, gunshot wounds, you name it. i have seen surgical procedures of every sort, but in all my professional years, i had never witnessed anything like this. for a long time, sometimes still, i had nightmares about what i saw in the clinic that day, unquote. former abortion provider nina whitman talks about a young girl pressured by her mother to have an abortion. the doctors incertificated an instrument to allow the abortion to be performed. she remembers the girl screaming at the top of her lungs saying, it's a baby. it's a baby. after she saw the baby, it was aborted in the toilet. for this little girl who will be

scarred by what she saw, there was no debate about whether her baby was a blob of tissue. unlike the educated abortionist, this girl realized what science has long argued, conception creates a unique human life. a baby. all of these people shared a common thread when they were confronted with the brutality and reality of abortion. they could no longer deny the murder of a defenseless child. easy for those of us who are removed from the abortion clinics, those who do not have to confront the unspeakable pain caused within the doors of those clinics every day to justify abortion on demand. they tell themselves that they are fighting for women. they convince themselves that that little flicker they see on

the ultrasound as the baby is savagely torn apart in the mother's womb is not the tiny beating heart of a living being. they ignore that every five-year-old child knows instinctively. they desense advertise themselves until the violent destruction of a defenseless baby is viewed as if it were nothing more than than having tonsils removed. all the abortionists, naming only a few. mr. speaker, when abby johnson, brenda schaffer and so many others like them saw what abortion really was, they changed their minds.

i would never suggest that i clearly know what sparked the change in their hearts, but i am convinced that it is the same spark and -- in the human soul that has turned the tide of blood and tragedy and hatred throughout history. and madam speaker, i'm also convinced that it is mankind's only hope. with that, i thank you, madam speaker, and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the entleman yields back.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona seek recognition? mr. franks: mr. speaker, i move the house do adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. continueduse has working on the bill dealing with the helium reserve. the reserve was created to make sure the nation has enough helium for national security needs. tomorrow the house will consider four amendments. passage willfinal also occur. today on the floor of

the house, eric cantor asked all members to attend a briefing tomorrow morning on syria. he and john kerry and a number of officials will talk with members on intelligence reports that the syrian government has used chemical weapons. on the other side of the john mccain and lindsey graham spoke about syria and chemical weapons. fromst received a letter the president in response to our assad hadbout whether

used chemical weapons, and i weaponsquote and the operative part. our intelligence community has assessed with varying degrees of confidence that syria has used chemical weapons on a small syria,and syria -- in sarin. president said if he isassad chemical weapons it would be a game changer, it would cross a red light. it is obvious that red line has been crossed. now i hope the administration the administration -- the administration will consider to provide a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to the people in the the resistance who we trust.

-verything that a non interventionist said has happened. are on thets ascendancy, chemical weapons are used, russians continue to be thesting assad, and iranians are all in, it requires the united states' help and assistance. we have to have operational capability to secure these chemical weapon stocks. we did not want them to fall into the wrong hands, and the wrong hands are a number of participants in the struggle that is taking place in syria. >> there are three goals that can be achieved if we act quickly. number one, secure the chemical weapons before they fall into the wrong hands.

that is a great threat. that is the big prize. from my point of view, the international community should be working with the opposition council the day after assad falls we secure the weapons and destroy them so they cannot be used against anyone. secondly, contained this sighting said that the king of jordan does not fall. refugees have fled into jordan with no end of sight. the kingdom of jordan has been a stabilizing influence. jordan is under pressure from the effect of syria. the third thing is to control the inevitable second war. we have let this go so long and if we have listened to senator mccain a couple of years ago, we would not have this problem. there are up to 6000 al qaeda- type fighters in syria, the country is fragmented along sectarian lines, and chaos is

everywhere. there willad falls be a conflict between the majority of syrians who want to move forward and a small a group of jihadists. >> questions? >> [indiscernible] briefing on that. >> north korea? the chinese still hold the key to north korea that. there are some signs that they are getting a little weary of the ethics of this headman, but still -- this young man, but still it is a precarious situation. this duration is syria -- in syria is unacceptable.

the president said this would be a red light if they used chemical weapons. the president has now call us that they used chemical weapons. those stocks of chemical weapons, some of which are in distributed areas, must be secure, and we must give the opposition the capability to drive out assad. our relations with russia should be directly related to their assistance to assad. does the administration have any plans to respond? >> [indiscernible] it's nonlethal. the situation on the ground today is stalemate, with the iranians and russians all in and the united states gives them flak jackets. that is not comforting when scud

missiles are hitting. >> can i say something about boston? casen is becoming to me a study in system failure. just look at it from a 30,000- foot point of view. you have russian intelligence services contacting two a disease within our federal government, responsible for our national security. the fbi and the cia. they tell us we believe you have a radical islamist in your midst. we do interviews, some things that i think are pretty irresponsible. however, this suspected radical islamist is able to go back to theia, without the fbi or cia be made aware of it, even know homeland security was. that system failure almost 12 years after 9/11. it gets worse.

islamist,ted radical the person without warning letters about, is openly on the internet for months talking about killing americans and engaging in radical jihad against the united states, and we were unable to connect the dots and pick that up. the rest is history. between bank gauzy and boston, our systems are failing and we're going backwards. we need to understand that bin laden may be dead, but the war against radical islam is very much alive. radical islam is on the march. when he took up our game. >> [indiscernible] >> no. the george the bush presidential library was dedicated earlier today on the campus of southern methodist university in dallas. the former president attended

and give remarks, which included what he hopes will be the mission of the bush said. here's part of what he had to say. politics,tired from happily so, i might add, but not from public service. we will use our influence to help children start of life with a quality education, to help more countries overcome poverty and disease, to help more people and every part of the world live in freedom. towill work to empower women transform their countries, stand behind a courageous men and women who have stepped forward to wear the uniform of the united states to defend our flag and our freedoms at home. ultimately the success of a nation depends on the character of its citizens. as president i had the privilege to see that character up close. i saw it in the first

responders who charged up the stairs into the flames to save people's lives from burning towers. i saw it in the virginia tech professor who barricaded his classroom door with his body until his students escaped to safety. i sought in the people of new orleans who made homemade boat to rescue their neighbors from the floods. i sought in the service members who laid down their lives to the back country safe and make other nations free. roosevelt once described the dedication and a library as an act of faith. i dedicate this library with an unshakable faith in the future of this country. it is the honor of a lifetime to lead a country -- to lead a country as brave and noble as the united states. whenever challenges come before us, i will always believe our nation must best days light ahead. god bless.

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> that was part of today's dedication ceremony in dallas. you can watch the entire event tonight at o'clock eastern on c- span and any time at c-span.org. but c-span2, representatives from home at security testified on the possibility of a nuclear or biological attack.

on c-span3, a hearing on the 2014 budget request for u.s. foreign assistance programs. all this tonight starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. nancy pelosi help a weekly briefing earlier today on capitol hill. she talked about automatic budget cuts and the upcoming house agenda. this is 20 minutes. >> good morning. for bringing son and daughter to work day? welcome. >> [indiscernible] all anyught yours were of ohio when you bring them in. thank you for being here. democrats -- oh, one more. hi, how are you? welcome. i did not bring the chocolate candy.

come to my office. democrats, led by our ranking member on the house budget committee, chris van hollen, have introduced a resolution calling upon boehner to appoint conferees to reach a budget agreement. we want to resolve sequestered. the sequestered is harmful to the education of our children, nutrition of seniors, 4 million on the meals on wheels cut out of it, workers on unemployment benefits are reduced, all americans in terms of travel for reasons,ily recreation, parks, we can resolve the sequester issue. resolve the sequestration by going to the conference table. it is important to know what appointing conferees means. it means you go to the table to resolve tort differences.

you do so in a fair and open process, transparent, in public view, and open to the press. it is the regular order. regular order is something that the republicans have requested over and over again, except when it is time for the regular order, when they walk away from it. perhaps it is like confidence in the power of their ideas. perhaps they need the scrutiny of the american people seeing the difference in our budget priorities, a budget much like what president obama has put forth and the democratic budget bill, about investing in jobs and reducing the deficit in a fiscally sound way, a very positive budget which is a statement of our national values, which a budget is supposed to be. what are the republicans afraid of? why do they not want to have this discussion in the open? again, our members are

supporting mr. van hollen's call for conference, as you have seen senator reid do as well in his house. set of going to conference, which are weighty -- wasting time appeared for two days we have been debating a bill that could have been passed by unanimous consent. the helium belgrade with the time on a health bill that was ill advised. they did not even have the votes on their side. they had to pull it. that is our work product for this week. time is about obstruction of a legislation to create jobs, to deal with the budget, to end sequestration, and obstruction on gun safety. last week my -- mike thompson was here with me.

since then he and peter king have sent a letter to members asking them to the coat-sponsors on our bipartisan house bill, the toomey-manchin bill. is important to know what it does. what it does is it is requires enforceable, has a background checks on gun sales, at gun shows come on the internet. what it does not do is create a registry trade in fact, the bill prohibits a federal gun registry doc prohibits it. chiefss supported by the of police, a bipartisan majority in the senate come around 90% of the american people. you should support the background check legislation. there is no time to hold back on this.

we all say we are going to react and make change following the gun violence and our country recently. i do not want to go into it, but we have to push forward to get the job done. we're not taking no for an answer on this subject. this bill had command of the and inrs in the senate, the house, representatives king and thompson, for spreading in the needle just right fit for what gets the job done, which honors the second amendment, carper tracks the american people. and so we call upon our speaker to give us a vote on the this legislation picket i will be pleased to take any questions you might have. >> what roles at the plate in

the talks to exempt congress from the health care exchanges " do you know anything about them? do you think that is a good idea? caresupport the affordable act. the federal employee health benefits plan could be a andned under the exchange's, i am in close contact with mr. hoyer. >> is that at all hypocritical? theo, the reading legislation carefully as to what it calls for and what an exchange is and how the federal undert plan is compatible the exchange, we just have to

look at all that. one thing is foreshore. i do not know what the motivation was in writing that peas to treat some members of congress and some employees differently, if you work for a leadership or committee your treated differently, a or if you work for members of us -- whenever the outcome in, people have to be treated the same. goodlatte said his panel was going to start the immigration on a piecemeal approach. he said he was personally opposed to a half way to citizenship. [indiscernible] caucuswhelmingly in our that that the legalization and citizenship is it an important part of our principles to secure our borders, protect our workers. and a pat the

citizenship, as well as the stakeholders between business and labour, farm workers and growers -- those stickers have worked out agreements that are part of the bill, and it is a very good bill. i do not think we want america to be a place where we have two kinds of people in our country. we make, it's of other countries that have workers come in and they are in a different category no matter of how long they have lived in the country, how much they contribute to the economic success of that country. i do not see the house democrats supporting a bill of that can. i'm optimistic that the bill that the senate passes, and if there is strong bipartisan support in the house for pat to

legalization, and, hence, to citizenship. aren'ts of the issues, you worried the way republicans are spending this that democrats in congress will not to get their own employees to the health care law. could that have run occasions -- >> that will not be happening. the bill has been written. it is a question of interpretation, and we want everybody to be treated the same. i do not subscribe to the notion that we do it -- we did not win the election because of the health care bill. if we did, from tens of millions of americans to have health care was well worth any of our political careers, in my view. stoppedthe suspect talking after being read his rights, and are you concerned that valuable intel might have been lost both, i was not able

to kent state to you what was happening in an intel briefing. i have confidence in our law enforcement and intelligence leadership at work on this, and we have to fully investigate it and we will find out at the end of the day who said what, when, or before. it is not to me to tell you what happened. >> you spoke about sequester. of the things we have heard about -- [indiscernible] 1 effort might be to try to diminish the impact of these in the faa. what route the you see for this >? >> [indiscernible] >> i have been told that they might try to do some amendments,

or give them flexibility. is the money coming out of the sequestration money or is it coming from another source? >> that is unclear. >> that answer to all of your questions, whenever they may be, is to go to the conference table. said the sequestration is not hurting safety. well, teed of things on that score. we will not harm safety, but it does have an impact on the effectiveness and even since the and moving the american people from one place to the next. if you are suggesting there should be f a a money within the faa, within the sequester, then you may start affecting safety, because where will the money come from the cover what the

shortfall that the sequestration has called in one part of that? are to taketions money from other accounts of the transportation department. i find that less onerous than within sequestration. we are justt -- fooling ourselves if we think that we are doing -- the american people any favors by not finding a real solution, a real solution. a real solution is to go to the table and have a reconciliation of the budget. but the american people see and compare -- let the american people see and compare whose budget is one they would identify as reflecting their values, as jobs-creating, deficit-reducing, and someone -- something that takes us into the future. that is what the republicans

fear, they fear the scrutiny on their budget pick it is based on false numbers. we know that now. is based on a premise that says if your pet is a post 2 and x percentage of gdp, you have to cut. that is how we got to the high deficit relationship to gdp, it is exactly turned upside down, and that is the clear analysis of the premise on which they built this budget shows that if you want to reduce the deficit, cutting investments in education and public sector investments that create jobs come inject the band into the economy, again, creating jobs, more jobs, then that would be the path to grow. this is a debate that i think -- that is why we come to conference. we have differences of opinion. usually, we can reconcile them, but you have to be at the table to do that. unless you fear the public awareness of what you are

proposing. what is being proposed is something that is anti-growth, anti-growth, anti-growth, less jobs. that is the standard that i think the american people want any budget to meet with jobs as a way to reduce the deficit. >> when you see republicans stretch a helium bill that them pull it all frantically, somebody who has been in boehner's position, what are your thoughts about that? >> what do you think about it? don't you think it is ridiculous? the fact is there is a use of that time of congress. there is a use of the opportunity to find a solution to the american people. the helium bill is a fine bill. there was never think proposed

earlier on to necessitate the bill, but it the bill is there, a could have passed on the floor, or put up on suspicion. that they are dragging this out is a waste of taxpayer dollars, a waste of the time on the floor of the house, the cost of bringing other legislation to the floor that will make progress, to take us for. -- ford. it is still time said they say they have x numbers of days of legislation that congress was in. ofis almost a frivolous use the congressional schedule. >> about the health care bill the came up yesterday -- club for growth and heritage action made it a scored no vote. has happened with other priority bills for the leadership, and then they went a whale or fail

or had to pass with democratic support. how important do you think these groups are in shaping what is happening on the floor? >> that we say this bill you talk about on the floor yesterday, taking money from the prevention fund and put it into a high-risk pool, using the illusion of doing something for people -- false. wrong. not right. it is similar to its cousin bette is coming down the road in a couple of weeks, which is the comp time bill, which is really a fall on working families, while making it look like they have some say in whether that comp time or overtime, and it is an assault on overtime. again, it is their softer side, which is really a facade that is not real, it does not help people, but they want to give the impression they do wowed just putting it right in the category of all the things they

do. we want tax cuts for the rich, but we do not want to raise the minimum wage. we should be cutting food stamps, but we should not be cutting the minimum wage which would eliminate the necessity of people having to put people -- food on the table by having food stamps. i wonder what working people ever did to the republicans that they have a out for them. no increase in the minimum wage, almost insulting them for relying on any public support, which is necessitated by not having a livable wage in our country, of which they oppose. this was something that was an illusion that the republicans even saw threeough. a fake,. company ity the

keeps. let's take care of the budget deficit, but not by everybody paying their fair share, but by marking people who rely on assistance. said that is what i think of it. ok prove i will see those of you who are coming by. thank you. >> here is a look at our schedule on the c-span that are traded at 8:00, the dedication ceremony for the new george w. bush presidential library and museum in dallas. on c-span2, homeland security representatives testified on the possibility of a nuclear and a biological attack on a u.s.

city. the 2014 u.s. foreign assistance program. on the next "washington journal," we will look at homeland security policy. will take your questions about how the fbi has handled the investigation of the boston marathon bombings. we will also look at trends in home ownership. " is live onjournal c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> if two cars pull up and one has a stranger and the other car as dick cheney, you get in the car with the cstranger. >> if you took all the money killrepublicans spent to

health care, we could at had health care. >> here we are at the hilton. -- is hard to be be funny with the president right next to you, but day in and day out, joe biden does a. the white house correspondents' dinner. at 6:15 eastern on c-span. 16 and helps her -- she marries at 16 and helped her husband. by the time her husband assumes -- meet eliza,

johnson. onday night at 9:00 eastern c-span and c-span3, also on c- span radio and c-span.org. charles schumer and john mccain spoke about immigration policy. both senators are members of the gang of eight and talked about their bill which has the support of president obama and the afl- cio. this is 50 minutes. >> i will be very brief and make a couple of points. first, on the immigration bill, the number one reason we are here, i want to salute john mccain who has done an amazing job of leadership that would not have happened without him. the plate early on. one more point not related to

immigration, but harry reid has this idea of a joint caucus where john will tell what happened to him during vietnam's that has never been talked about before. it is an experience i will never forget. it impressed every member of the senate who was there. it was one of the amazing experiences i have had pick it as an honor to be with him. , on immigration, those few reporters who have an ounce of cynicism running in their bloodstreams -- it is not many of you, all optimistic, positive, and looking forward to the future -- but you would have been impressed by our meetings, our 24 meetings, many of which went into the midnight hour. for eight people of different viewpoints of different stakes, even needs, if you will, of trying to reach common ground to

come together in the middle, and it was an amazing thing to me. .t gives you a lot of faith product, and i am optimistic it will pass. i will not get into the details. one other point -- there is a lot of talk of how did boston affect our bill. some of the facts that have come out in the last day show our bill would have strengthened acurity, because we require machine reading of any person who leaves the country where comes back into the country. as you know, tsarnaev, his name was misspelled. he was on a customs watch list, and that is why janet the paula tunnel mentioned -- janet

napolitano mentioned that. even though he was on a wider list, that the not show up because his name was misspelled by aeroflot. on our bill, the name would of been read by passport, and a with known who he was someone was leaving and entering the country, and it might have made a difference. ur bill strengthens security, the events in boston should importune us to leave status quo and go to a proposal like ours. we are interested in other improvements, but those who say in my judgment let's wait on the bill because we have to see everything that happened in boston and see all that, it is an excuse. the only people who are saying are against the

bill were against it before the boston bombings. >> i would like to thank shot for the leadership he has displayed in getting together different views, even within the group, and different priorities, and chuck and i arked on the attempt to avert 51-vote vote in the senate, because of the dissatisfaction that's is understandable on the part of harry reid, and we have worked on other issues together, and i appreciate the opportunity to be associated with him since the american people are very interested in seeing some results from the congress of the united states. i am sure you saw a light pole about favorability of different aspects of our lives, and members of congress right below a colonoscopy. we would like to be above a call on us to become an a second of

what chuck said about the tragedy in boston should somehow impede the progress of this bill. we are having hearings, we will have a markup in the judiciary committee, and then move to the floor where there will be weeks -- i hope not too many weeks -- a debate, amendments, and we will have ample opportunity if there are lessons to be learned about the boston tragedy to incorporate into legislation. this is not the final product. on the issue of the final product, we have agreed that if we feel that the bill can be improved by various amendments, we will support those amendments or feel free to support or oppose. if it is an amendment that is designed to kill the bill, as happened in 2007, we will probably vote together to prevent the bill from going

down, because this -- these are fragile compromises that have been made. let me again -- and i will stop with this -- we think that america will be much more secure with the passage of this bill. we will have a more secure border. we will use technology such as a radar that was developed in iraq that will help us identify people as they come across. we will have a he-verify, which will send a message sooner or later some of the border, a round of world, that if you get to the united states of america, you will not have a job when you get here, because of this stiff employer sanctions in yves- verify, and i would also point out that exit-gentry will help us with our national security as well. at the press conference that we had the other day, i would like to conclude with this -- one of the reporters asked, what makes

you optimistic now whereas in 2007 you failed? i pointed to the group of people behind us. we are a coalition that has been assembled. we did not assemble it necessarily. , chamberur, business of commerce, evangelicals, the catholic church. when you look at the broad spectrum of support that was -- that has been expressed for passage of this legislation, it is a coalition we did not have in 2007, and i believe those people are extremely active. 70% of the american people support a path to citizenship as long as the people are here illegally, payback taxes come to pay a fine, learn english, and get in line behind everybody else who came to this country legally, and that is an

important factor in american approval or disapproval. that is what this legislation is all about. thanks for having us. talking about how this is not a final bill, that the bill would have made the boston situation better. have you discovered anything so far that tells you you need to make further improvements in the bill? senator graham an amendment requiring a minutes who are deemed higher risk to undergo more checks. are you seeing anything as a result of boston, where you wanted add stuff to the bill that is already good? >> it is way too early. we do not have all the lessons. we're finding new information on a daily basis. i am sure that by the time this bill reaches the four we will reach conclusions and we will

include provisions like that, if we feel they are necessary. working with the administration, by the way, and some of the smart people at the fbi and the other agencies. we are completely open to amendments that would in any way prevent what happened in boston. nobody has any illusion about that. about sequester and flight delays, there is a dispute about how to handle the airline delays because but the sequestered. a report said some democrats want legislation that will deal with the air travel portion of the sequester. majority leader harry reid is working they have a sequester repeal. can anything be done about the air travel delays? >> yes. look, my best solution is to undo sequester and replaced it

with more rational types of cuts, and that would be leader reid has an amendment which got the support on our side, not on the other side, and having said that, i noted last night jay carney, the president's spokesperson, said he would be open to a solution just for faa. the transportation department has probably the worst lead on sequestration, because so many of their employees are not affected because they are funded in part it squeezes the air traffic controllers. no know that rockefeller along with senator thune was meeting yesterday with a faa to come up with a solution. i would certainly be open to it. >> have had hearings in the

senate armed armed services committee and we have heard from everybody except the navy. the kinds of hearings we have, every one of our uniformed service chiefs have said it cannot defend the nation if we continue with this sequester. i'm terribly uncomfortable with the delays of faa. i think it is a terrible thing. i have been subject to it myself. we are looking at a virtual threat to our national security. we have got our priorities upside down. -- if we'rent going to take care of airlines in the past years, why don't we take care of our national security? the world is a more dangerous place than i have seen ever, in many respects. every one of our uniformed security chiefs say they are not going to be able to defend the nation within a year. we have got our priorities

upside down. i will go along with whatever the faa thing is. it's criminal and scandalous that we are ignoring the effective sequestration on our national security, how we can believe -- if you don't believe uniformed service chiefs, that is fine. i happen to. graphic presenting illustrations of the problems that they are facing. i'm glad to see all the focus on whether we have to wait in line longer, or there is flight delays. i wish to god the congress of united states would focus on the threats to our nation's security. and keeping good and qualified men andd then women -- women who are now considering getting out because they see no , at least a predicable future, which at least we'll them. >> one other point -- owe them. >> one other point.

faa is causing problems. it causes economic loss. we have lots of other cuts. john mentions the military. i hate to see nih be cut, cancer research. i certainly agree that would be a lot better to figure out a better way to undo the whole sequester as opposed to doing it piecemeal. i certainly would be open to an faa solution. the transportation department is under an undue amount of immediate squeeze. ,> you talked about republicans how they can appeal to hispanic voters. there is still a lot of fear i am hearing. him thatu convince that risk is worth taking?

>> i believe if we pass this legislation, it won't gain us a single hispanic vote. it will put us on a playing field where we can compete great right now we cannot compete -- compete. right now it cannot compete. all i can try to do is show my friends, particularly in states like mine and the state of texas and others, where the demographics should be convincing -- by six or eight will have aow, we -- if not a majority, near to a majority hispanic population in my state. it is a demographic certainty

that if we condemn ourselves to 15%, 20%, 25% of the hispanic vote we will not win elections. i have no illusions about whether passage of this legislation will gain hispanic voters. it won't. it will put us on a playing field where we can make an argument, as i do with check everyday for smaller government for smallerry day government, pro-life, pro- defense. that is the argument i think we can make to gain hispanic support. >> i will make one other comment. i was sitting with marco rubio with two conservative leaders. one of them said, schumer, you are doing this so you can get more democratic votes. i said, the first one will be allowed to vote in 13 and a half years. if you republicans have not solved your problems with the hispanic community in 13 and a half years, you are finished. >> i called paul ryan yesterday

to thank him for his outspoken support of immigration reform. >> tom? senator mccain, can you tell ?s what paul ryan told you >> i said i think my comments are important. he agrees with what i just said. -- onceor calling, and you run for president -- no, he did not say that. [laughter] >> the other day that lindsey graham said the goal is to get 70% of votes in the senate -- >> we need that, and i think it's doable. ?> senator schumer

>> if we were to pass this bill with over 50 democratic votes -- normally eight or nine republican votes -- it would pass. we would get the 60. it would bode poorly for the house. -- whatre looking for we are looking for is getting a large republican vote. we did some very interesting things. senators hatch and rubio, feinstein and bennett were part of the section. it was a point where most agreed with our proposal. southeast did not. we knew there were a lot of republican senators from the southeast who might vote for our bill, but if their growers portray -- were very much theirt the bill -- agriculture is a bit different. we worked out an accommodation.

we are looking not to get 61 votes. it would be wonderful if we could get a majority on both sides. >> follow-up on that. >> i think it's very doable. yes, sir. discussed,you getting 70 votes is important for what happens in the house, how many conversations -- could you describe if you have spoken to your colleagues in the house about if they're working on their bill. youfor senator schumer, discussed trying to curry up republican support. can you'd speak about the diversity and what happened to that?

talk about what happens in the diversity in the negotiation process. >> we've had conversations with some of our colleagues in the house. ishink the time to do that probably after we finish on the floor of the senate with a completed package, so we can go over specific voice with them. we've had several -- points with them. we've had several conversations. we've encouraged their negotiations, which in many ways are particularly given the makeup of that group, somewhat encouraging. >> on diversity visas, i was the author of it back in the 1990's. i care about it. we had strong opposition from both republican colleagues on our gang of eight as well as house republicans.

diversity visas were designed to bring in immigrants from countries that could not get them through family connections. 86% of the legal immigrants who come into the country, 84% or 86% are family related. diversity was an effort to bring in people from europe and africa, who were the majority of the ancestry of americans, but who could not get in because it was their fifth cousins who could come. it was successful for a while. now it has shifted. the majority of people who come in are from central -- certainly the plurality, the highest number is from central asia, no longer from europe or africa. given that and the opposition of our colleagues, we decided we could not continue diversity visas. cares a lot about this,

the congressional black caucus. in the system we have is a point system edge lindsey graham pushed for -- which lindsey graham pushed for. it makes future legal immigration more job oriented. that is the consensus among most of us. there is plenty of room for family there, too. the number of africans, because they have so decreased under the diversity visa, will increase. that's not to mention the number of caribbean sewall first become rpi -- caribbean's who will first become rpi's and then citizens under the bill. >> you said they will increase. why will they increase? >> in the point system, questions that are underrepresented get points -- countries that are underrepresented get points. [indiscernible]what

reassurance can you give to parents and students and mid- level professionals that this wave of immigrants will not drive down wage? about across the full width of university education, including environmentalists and journalists. >> we need a whole new group to come in and straighten things out. were talking primarily stem. >> prior -- primarily stem. people ought to be given an opportunity to remain in the united states. there are job requirements for those people. there is no doubt that they are not being filled.

if the united states is going to remain the number one nation in the world, we had better be able to keep the best talent in the world. those people are people who are attending the best universities in the world, which happened to be hours. >> a couple of things in there. unemployment level for college graduates across the board in america is about 4.5%. obviously not like high school graduates. it is certainly in double digits there. because of senator durbin's work, they have to be paid a significant wage, level two wage. a deterrentg to be to anybody who wants to bring in , college non-stem graduate, for these other professions. they have to post the job. if a qualified american is available, they have to hire him or her. we have a lot of safeguards for

the non-stem people who are college graduates. in the house, you say that the path to citizenship, there is a nonstarter there. i'm wondering if you think there's going to be a big problem there and if you see any other path way to getting this bill done. of gettingno way this job done without giving people a path to citizenship. a lot of our friends in his panic community, when they look at what's her -- hispanic community, when they look at what's required, they're not very happy. and were talking about a $500 one after fiver years, and all of the foods that are required here, including border security, there's going to be pushed back from that side as well.

a legal status is not something that someone should have to remain in unless they want to. to say that you can have a legal status but you cannot have it has to be a citizen, i just it fits the fundamental principles of fairness in our society. i know that opposition is there. i don't think it's valid. i don't think it is held even by a majority of republicans. >> it's a nonstarter. in the european countries where they have done this and people don't feel they have a chance to become part of society, there is huge discontent. we have seen that in the results of economic unrest, in terms of terrorism and things like that. the american dream is that you

can become an american. you have to follow certain rules. we even say for the first time, you have to learn english. you should be able to achieve that american dream, symbolized by the beautiful lady in the harbor of the city where i live . it is fundamentally important. most americans support it. the majority of republicans supported. >> as long as -- >> there is a path. you are in it. -- earn it. , itthe hispanic community is a nonstarter. for most democrats, it is a nonstarter. the one thing that the four of us insisted on, there has to be a path to citizenship. john and the other three said it has to be a qualified, earned approach to citizenship. they insisted that people go to the back of the line, not gain any benefit from crossing the border.

we have achieved that. >> effective control of the border. theny attempt to say in house that you will not have a path to citizenship will be a nonstarter. .t will not pass the senate i don't think it would get a democratic vote. >> michael? immigrantspens to who are on the path to if benchmarks are not met? they would remain in a legal until they comply with all of the requirements -- illegal until they comply with all of the requirements. in 1986, i voted for simpson mazzoli.

now we have 11 named people who are here illegally. i'm not going to stand for a third wave. that means that we not only have to have a secure border, but 40% of the people are here illegally overstayed their visas. we have to track that down. is most important aspect that if an employer knowingly hires a person who is here illegally, they will be penalized for doing so. we will have their ability to authenticate it through tamperproof documents. the one thing that bothers me is the demand for drugs. drugs will continue to come across our southern border as long as there is a demand for it. that is a problem that we have not even addressed. it is separate from illegal immigration.

third wave.ve a we owe it to the american people. the only way you do that is a combination of e-verify, exit entry, secure border, and penalties for employers who hire people that don't have the proper documentation. >> let's make a couple of points. i agree with john. the american people will support common sense, balanced solutions to legal immigration and the 11 million who are here only fdr convinced there will not be a third wave of illegal immigration -- if they are convinced there will not be a third wave of illegal immigration. our bill is stronger than anything that has been envisioned. the border metrics are real. john took us to the border. we passed the bill, the two of us in 2010. it puts $600 million into the border.

,ome of my constituents said we don't need anything on the border. that $600 million raised effectiveness rates from 68% to 82%. everyone who attempts to cross they either catch or turn back, 82%. ,ow we are spending another 4.5 and then another two if that does not work. one thing we insisted on, that these metrics not be spaghetti. they be achievable, concrete metrics. listen to this. on their border in arizona they only have two drones. they can only fly them eight hours a day because they don't have the personnel. it's a vast border. it's nothing like new york. [laughter] you don't have to catch them right at the border.

you have these drones like and follow people across the border. they see everything that crosses. they can follow them for 25, 30 miles inland and catch them there. the one who got in the news, the one lady we saw trying to cross the border, they did not apprehend her. this was in no balance. -- nogales. they said, we will catch her in 20 minutes. and they did. these metrics are really going to be more effective than people think. we are going to secure the border. and they are achievable. let's say a president comes in who is anti-immigration. system.not use the they cannot game the system to say we are not creating a path to citizenship. >> technology. in about a month they will be 120 degrees on the arizona- sonora border. it is very tough on people,

sitting in a vehicle in that heat. radars andd capabilities in a rack -- in ifq that will allow us -- deployed correctly, will allow us to surveilled the entire border. we developed a radar in iraq which not only identifies people at the time, but they track them back to where they came from. it's a fascinating radar. i'm convinced the technology and surveillance capabilities as well as the drones will allow us to have effective control of the border, which might have been impossible 10 or 15 years ago. >> [inaudible]>> we will know in years.

not met those requirements in five years, we will convene a convention and they will spend additional monies. if they do it right, i am totally confident. 40% of this goal, people never came across our border. they just came on a visa and overstayed. we are a dressing that side of addressingpect -- that side of it, that aspect. >> a lot of people have questions. >> make your answers shorter. [laughter] listing names]

that is probably as far down the list as we are going to get. >> the u.s. chair of commerce endorsed or legislation. but the cap on visas for construction workers -- >> everyone is unhappy. but they signed up. you're going to have to show me a major group that is in opposition. of course they're unhappy. on the other side they're very unhappy as well with the provisions of the bill. that is what compromise is called. >> next question. [laughter] , would youschumer accept a 50% increase in the number of visas, h1 -- >> this is a carefully negotiated package. i talked to tom donohue a great deal. he is from brooklyn, too.

-- that's whatid jeff flake said. he said, the lady at the border heard my new york accent and already thought she was in new york. [laughter] anyway, basically we said, we're going to be quite generous on high-end, college graduates, stem and all of that because those jobs, there is a consensus that there is a shortage. lockheed martin tried to hire 500 engineers in syracuse. they have rit 100 miles to the west, rpi 100 miles to the east. they could not get the gineers. generous on the high end. much tougher on the low skilled and, with the exception of

agriculture, because we know americans don't do that work. it's a pretty deft bill on the low end. it provides for needs that people have -- tough bill on the low end. it provides for needs of people have. even the smaller construction , westry, they have said want to change, but we're not going against the bill because nobody really is. john said, nobody really wants to go against the bill. the bottom line is that it is a carefully balanced situation, and i think everyone's going to go along with it. >> one of the reasons they went along with it is the status quo is totally unacceptable in america today. it's unacceptable to have 11 million human beings in our society without any of the rights and protections of citizenship or a least a legal status. >> it sounds like you would vote

against -- --i'm not going to be made nail down on anything specific -- nailed down on anything specific. >> can you speak up, ma'am? >> we decidedible] you can't do individual bills. people say, what about me? i tried that in the last congress. high tech has more broad support than anything else. they put it in the house bill and it got more in the senate. the hispanic community said, what about us? the agriculture community said, what about us?

ironically,d is, the best way to pass immigration legislation is actually a comprehensive bill. that can achieve more balance. everybody can get much but not all of what they want. i think the idea of doing separate bills is just not going to work. it's not worked in the past. it's not going to work in the future. credit,durbin, to his his advocacy for the dreamers, always one to bring up the dream act. which is fine. and now let's secure the border. it has got to be a comprehensive approach. , theanging the subject marketplace fairness act is before the senate this week. [no audio]terday to

to abandon the current internet bills. california has an economic presence law. amazon is also concerned that some tapes would retain their current laws, not opt in to the national system -- states would retain their current laws, not opt into the national system. >> when it came to committee, i was reluctant to support the bill because it did not allow for the different systems within the state, particularly new york. i negotiated with new york state, senators durbin and n senator nz. they have made changes in the bill so that states would have a different system but still collect the sales tax will be allowed. now new york state supports the bill. but new york will not have to change its system.

the bill will allow new york state system and other states to continue as is. [inaudible] i want to switch topics. i wonder if you can comment on the gun legislation from last week. just a situation where a president can't change >> look, i've been involved in gun legislation since 1994. i was the author of the brady bill. it a very hard issue. i think it is unfair to blame the president. the president worked hard on this issue which he put political capital on the line which he made it one of the centerpieces of his state of the union address. and he went all around the country to try and rally

support. my view, the way to change the -- on gun issues is to aside from relying on the conscious of people to do what they think is right which plays a much larger role than many of you give congressmen and senators credit for, is to .hange the underlying table and what has to happen is how were we able to pass these bills in 1994? the broad middle rose up and said we want rational laws on guns. why? because crime was ripping apart america and the police and everybody else said we have to do something. elections occurred and rightly or wrongly those bills were blamed for democratics losing control of the house and senate and for 20 years not much

happened. and these mass shootings are caused the broad mid toll rise up again. i think we are at a turning point. i think the average person. we've always known the progun folks have the intensity but the other have the numbers. i think the numbers are getting more intense. for instance, when i went around my state last weekend, for the first time in very conservative areas i heard from the pron.r.a. people you are taking away my rights but i heard from people who said keep at it. i think that's going to happen. this is my own prediction. i think we are going to bring this bill back before the end of the year. we may change the bill a little bit but i think you will find changes out there in the public. lots of senators who thought it was safe to vote against it are not so sure anymore.

>> i wouldt li did on the floor of the senate applaud the senators who had the courage to come forward with a bill that i thought was very common sense. it wasn't exactly as i had wanted. i think we need to define the internet aspect of gun sales a little better. but i do agree with chuck that i think the issue is going to come back. but we also have to address the fact that we are not putting criminals -- prosecuting criminals who fail gun checks and we are also not addressing the issue of crazy people who are doing terrible things whether it be in arizona or colorado or newtown connecticut. that is probably the toughest part of this issue. where do individual rights end and the obligation to protect the population begin? and we really need to have that

national discussion i think in more depth. >> can you answer about the administration's role? is there anything they could have done? >> i don't know what the administration could have done. i don't know what more whenever one of these things fails, we point the finger of blame. but i don't want to do that except to applaud the senators who come from states who have sizable and influential second amendment defenders i'll call them. >> the last question. >> this is sort of a segway back to immigration. could i ask both of you senators at this point what do you think is the most useful role that president obama could play in this immigration

debate? >> i think that the role he is playing now and that is that he has encouraged the group of us that came up with this legislation. he has expressed his public support of it. and at the same time, he's not tried to dictate the terms of it. and i think that his role has been very appropriate and if we get it through the senate, then think he will again weigh in to try to convince our colleagues in the house to try to move forward with it. so i think his role has been exactly appropriate. >> i agree with that completely. i asked the president on several occasions to give our group, gang of 8 space because we were coming up with a

bipartisan compromise. obviously the president's views on some things are things i would agree with personally but we couldn't get a bipartisan compromise on. his role was terrific. i would describe it as perfect. >> i wouldn't go that far. >> i know you wouldn't. that's why i waited for you to go first. immutable in not but strong deadlines to come up with our proposal. this has come from a bipartisan group in the senate. it's not everything the president wants which he understood that and he's playing the role exactly right. >> i want to thank you. >> could icon collude with one comment? > i do sense a slight change

in the environment in the senate. i think there is a willingness to maybe address some important issues in a fashion that i was not the case in the last four years which we averted 51 votes in the filibuster from moving forward with gun legislation. there is every opportunity i think and i emphasize opportunity for a grand bargain. and so i do for the first time in some time har baltimore rioles some optimism about a agreement bipartisan on compelling issues we are facing. >> we hope that our immigration bill sets a model for doing this, coming to bipartisan agreements on other major issues and there is a desire

for the majority of people in both parties, not everybody, but the majority of people in both parties to do that. i think this session is going to be a lot more productive than the last few on a whole bunch of issues. >> which is not a high bar. >> i think reflection, part ist is reflection of extreme dissatisfaction that the american people have expressed in our polling data and we all seek approval. that's part of the reason why we do the things we do. and to serve the people effectively and when the majority of americans think we are not doing, that sooner or later that does have an impact. the approval ratings of congress are at all time lows. and that's not -- i predict if it continues along this path, you are going to see a third

party in the united states. theover whemming increase in voter reg station is independent registration and those people are voting independent because they don't find a home in either party. sooner or later that dynamic is fog to affect the political landscape. >> thanks so much for doing this. >> thank you. >> the george w. bush library and museum was dedicated today on the s.m.u. campus in dallas. the president attended and gave remarks which he hopes will be the mission of the bush center. here is part of what he had to say. >> i'm retired from politics, happily so i might add but not from public service. we'll use your influence to help more children start life with a quality education, to

help more americans find job and opportunity. to help more countries overcome poverty and disease. to help more people in every part of the world live in freedom. we'll work to empower women around the world to transform their countries, stand behind the cue rage youse men and women who have worn the uniform of the united states to defend our flag and our freedoms here at home. ultimately the success of a nation depends on the character of its citizens. as president i had the privilege to see that character up close which i saw it in the first responders who charged up the stairs into the flames to save people's lives from burning towers. i saw it in the virginia tech professor who barricaded his classroom with his body until his student escaped to safety. i sate in new orleans in the people who made homemade boats

to rescue their neighbors from floods. saw it in the service members who laid down their lives to keep our country safe and to make other nations free. franklin roosevelt described the dedication of a library as an act of faith which i dedicate this library with an unshakable faith in the future of our country. the honor to lead a country as breave and enable as the united states. whatever challenges come before us, i will always believe our nation's best days lie ahead. god bless. [applause]

>> that was a portion of today's presidential dedication ceremony that took place in dallas. just a remind they're you can see the entire event at 8:00 eastern on c-span or anytime at cspan.org. on c-span 2 representatives from the homeland security department testify on the possibility of a nuclear or biological attack on a u.s. city. and the budget request for u.s. foreign assistance programs. all these event tonight starting at 8:00 eastern on the c-span networks. >> on the next "washington journal" we'll look at homeland securityolicy with a member

of the homeland security committee. judicial committee member bobby scott will take your questions about how the f.b.i. has handled the investigation of the boston marathon bombings. we'll also look at trends in me ownership with the u.s. census bureau. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> i went in, i walked into the little kai of course. i said i'm here to report. a guard came up and said i knew one of your campaign managers in ohio. i said okay. got down in there. the guard said here, you have some hate mail. it was from california and massachusetts. you have hate mail waiting on you. you go through the most embarrassing part of the strip down.

then i got into the intake, walked into prison, down into the courtyard. the warden -- i won't use the language i do in the book but the warden told the man get away from him, he can find his own way. i don't know where to go, where i'm staying, these knew by clothes they call them like pa jam ma plants. and another prisoner said where is your escort. i said i don't know some little guy yelled some foul language. he took me in the back of a laundry room. and he said are you the congressman? i said i used to be. he said are you a republican? i said republicans put me in here. he said i was the mayor of east cleveland i'll get you some clothes. >> sunday on c-span's q & a.

>> earlier today probst attended a memorial service for those killed and injured in last week's texas plant explosion. 15 people died with over 200 injuries reported. it was held in waco. the president's remarks were bout 20 minutes. > thank you. thank you so much. thank you senator, governor gathered dignitaries, the community of bailor and waco. most of all, the family and the

friend and neighbors of west texas. cannot match the power of the voices you just heard on that video. and no words adequately that was he courage isplayed on that deadly night. the love do is offer and support and prayers of the nation. for ok of salms tells us you oh god have tested us.

you have tried us. we went through fire and through water. yet you have brought us out to a place of abun dance. we went through fire and through water yet you have brought us out to a place of a bund answer. for this state, fur our country these have been trying and difficult days. we gather here in texas to mourn the brave men who went through fire. and all those who have been taken from us. we remain mindful of our fellow americans in flood flood states to the north who endure the high waters. we pray for those in boston who have been tested and the

wounded whose greatest test still lie ahead. but know this: while the eyes of the world may have been fixed on places far away, our earts have also been here in your time of tribulation. and even amidst such sorrow and much pain, we recognize fwod's abundens. we give thanks for the courage d the compassion and the incredible agrees of the people here. we are grateful for the mayors and all those who have shown such leadership during this

tragedy. and to the families and neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. .ou are not forgotten we may not all live here in texas, but we are neighbors too. [applause] . we are americans too. and we stand with you and we do not forget. and we'll be there even after the cameras leave. and after the attention turns elsewhere. your country will remain ever ready to help you remain and rebuild and reclaim your community. [applause] until last week i think it fair to say that few outside this

of west. ever heard i suspect that's the way most people in west like it. [applause] now it is true the we'rey travel letters and now the wider world know they can rely on the stop on a long stretch of highway. all the former presidents in dallas sent their thoughts and and laura george w. the poke longingly about better company as they've driven through west. what they understood and what

all you you understand is what makes west special is not the attention coming from far places. what makes west special, what puts it on the map is what makes it familiar. the people who live there, neighbors you can count on. , ces that haven't changed things that are solid and true and lasting. most of the people in west know everybody in west. many of you are probably descended from some of those first set letters, hearty immigrant who crossed and ocean and kept ongoing so for you there is no such thing as a stranger. when someone is in need you reach out to them and support them. you do what it takes to help them carry on.

that's what happened last wednesday when a fire alarm sounded across a quiet texas evening. as we've heard the call went out to volunteers, not professionals, people who just love to serve, people who want to help their neighbors which a call went out to farmers and car salesmen and welders and funeral home directors. the secretary and the mayor, it went out to folks who are tough enough and selfless enough to put in a full day's work and then be ready for more. and together you answered the call. you dropped your school work, left your families, jumped in fire trucks and rushed to the flames. you ou got to the scene, forgot fear and you fought that blaze as hard as you could

knowing the danger, buying time so others could escape. and then about 20 minutes after the first alarm the earth shook and the sky went dark and west changed for ever. today our prayers are with the families of all who we've lost. the proud sons and daughters of west whose memories will live on in our hearts, parts who love their kids and leaders who served their communities. they were young and old and from different backgrounds and different walks of life. a few were just going about their business, but an awful lot ran toward the scene of disaster trying to help. one was described as the kind of guy whose phone was always ringing with folks in need of

help, help he always provided. that's just who these folks were. our thoughts are with those who face a long road. hearlt broken, the families who lost their homes and possessions in an instant. they are going to need their friends in west but also their friend in texas and their friends all across this country. they'll still need you to answer that call. they will still need those things that are lasting and true. for scripture teaches us a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity. for the people of west as we've seen the love you share in better times, these hard days

have shown your ability to stand tall in times of unimage nabble adversity. you saw it in the hospital staff who spent the night treating people that they knew toiling through their tears as they did what had to be done. we saw it in the folks who helped evacuate an entire nursing home including one man who drove an elderly resident to safety and came back to do it again twice. we saw it in the people so generous that when the red cross set up a shelter for folks who couldn't go back to their homes, not that many people showed up because most had already been offered a place to stay with their friends and family and neighbors. complete strangers drove in undreds of miles to donate supplies. firefighters from surrounding

communities manned the stations so surviving volunteers could recover from their wounds. right here students stood in line for hours to give blood. in a nearby school district opened its doors to the students that can't go back to their classrooms putting welcome signs on lockers and in the hallways. so that's the thing about this tragedy, this small town's family is bigger now. it extends beyond the boundaries of west. and in the days ahead, this love and support will be more important than ever because there will be moments of doubt and pain. the temptation to wonder how this community will ever fully recover and the families who

have lost such remarkable men of the sort we saw in that video. there are going to be times when they simply don't understand how this could have happened. but today i see in the people what in your eyes that makes west special isn't going to go away. and instead of changing who you are, this tragedy has simply revealed who you've always been . t's the courage of deborah who works as a cashier just around the corner from the fire station. she said it's going to be tough for the families but we're going to rebound because we are fighters. that courage will bring west back.

[applause] it's the love of carla who used to live in west but now lives in austin and last week she drove all the way back. i had to be sheer she said. you have to be here for family. that love will keep west going. like e faith of someone pastor john crowder to sustain the people of west for as long as it takes. his church was damaged so on sunday the congregation assembled outside. what happened wednesday was awful but god is bigger than all of this. [applause] god is bigger than all of this and he's here with you in west. he is bigger than all of this

and he is here with you. going forward it's not just your town that needs your courage and your love and your faith, america does too. we need towns where if you don't know what your kids are up to then chances are your neighbors do and they'll tell on those kid in a second. america needs towns that holds fund racers to help folks pay the medical bills and then take the time to drop off a home cooked meal because they know a family sunday stress. america needs communities where there is always somebody to call if your car gets stuck or your house gets flooded. we need people who so love their neighbors as themselves they are willing to lay down their lives for them. america needs towns like west. [applause]

that's what makes this country reat is towns like west. for you oh god have tested us. you have tried us, we went through fire and through water yet you have brought us to a place of abun dense. you have been tested west. have you been tried. have you gone through fire. but you have r and always will abundance ed by an of love. you saw it in the voices on those videos. you see it in the firefighters d first responders who are here. [applause]

all cross america, all across america people are praying for you and thinking of you and when they see the faces of those families, they understand that these are not strangers, these are neighbors. and that's why we know that we will get through this. god bless west. may god grant his peace on those that we've lost, his comfort on their families. may he continue to bless this great state of texas and may he continue to bless these united states of america. [applause]

>> here is a look at our prime time schedule on the c-span networks. starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern he dedication ceremony for the bush library in dallas. possibility of an nuclear attack on a us city. all these events tonight starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> on the next "washington journal" we'll look at homeland security policy with a member of the homeland security committee. judiciary committee member a virginia democrat will take your questions about how thef.b investigation of the boston

marathon bombings. we'll look at trends in home ownership with the u.s. census bureau and the urban institute. "washington journal" is live on c-span every day at 7:00 a.m. eastern. house republicans on thursday called on the obama administration and the f.a.a. to be more flexible to avoid employee furloughs that are affecting air travel. his is 20 minutes. >> this weekend i'm going to hop on a plane and fly back to washington and i'll be joining other americans who have been stuck on tarmacs, waiting at

airport gates waiting for hours for their flights to take off. this has happened because of the way the president and f.a.a. have chose on the implement the sequester. is problem is entirely preventable. the f.a.a. has known about the sequester for two years. but gave the airline industryless than a week's notice of its implementation plans. now they've chose on the implement in the most counter productive way. and americans are paying the price for it. today it was announced that there would be no fur lows at the justice department. t.s.a. on march 1 there were threats we were going to have long lines getting through t.s.a. they have decided they won't have to furlough their employees.

at a time when families are traveling across the country to see their kids graduate from college, and take care of business, these delays are inexcusable. this morning i had a group of school kids who had spent most of the day and night getting here and they missed their capital tour because they were late. the chamber of commerce flew out yesterday and it was a long, long trip. the worst part is this all could have been prevented and should have been prevented and it would have been prevented if we would have worked together to replace the sequester. now we need to solve this problem. it's time for the president to stop playing politics with the american people. >> thank you very much. we've said from the very beginning that the administration, the president and the f.a.a. have the

flexibility to solve this problem. but what they've done as the chair just said, they implemented this in the most painful way possible to the flying public, to our airline industry and i believe the american people are seeing through that. that's why yesterday secretary lahood admitted to the flawed strategy to try to some limited fix. i believe the f.a.a. has the ability and flexibility without passing a law to move money around within that organization o not have these furloughs happen. with 47,000 employees there are 15,000 air traffic controlers. they should look first to the people in the offices that aren't essential to savety for the american people. we are willing to look at what the senate is going to propose. but ibbling we don't need to

pass legislation. if we do it should be limited and directing the f.a.a. to use the flexibility they have presently to not have these furloughs which are causing great harm to our economy. the flying public and delays are costing them money and costing all americans in the economy money with the way this has irresponsibly been implemented. i urge the f.a.a. and president to get back to the table and roll up their sleeves and figure out how to do this without affecting your economy. >> this administration is being passive aggressive at least or in the words of the "chicago tribune"'s editorial yesterday, the president's hometown paper intentionally imposing air traffic slowdowns. it's rid. ridiculous. this is no way to run things. they are being incompetent in how they've approached this.

they've had ample opportunity, months and months and months and months of warning this was upon them and they chose at a very late hour to come one this remedy. it is absurd. to treat o'hare airport in the exact same fashion that water loo iowa with 80 flights a day the same is ridiculous. president obama signed into the law the passenger bill of rights which add monshs airlines for imposing delays and puts massive fines on them if they fail to comply. where is the remedy for the public when it is their very own government that is failing at such an epic level in >> the f.a.a. already has the ability to make these adjustments. two solicitor generals for the bush administration and clinton

administration have stepped forward and said the f.a.a. has the ability to make these adjustments. when the blueprint for the current sequester was implemented, f.a.a. had a reduction during that time period. there were no furloughs for air traffic controlers at the as well. this has been done before. in addition no that, multiple airports are being treated the same way. you have airports that have more air traffic controlers than are required for the basic standards, you have others that have less. they are being treated the same way across the board. this is a silly way to apply this. and the frustrating thing is f.a.a. folks are being used as pauns by this administration to be able to implement maximum amount of pain on the american people when it does not have to be this way. >> to tag along with what my

colleagues have said, the f.a.a. modization bill had specific language granting the flexibility. i do not understand how jay carney can get up day after day and say this is across the board with a straight face. one of my colleagues said that eric holder is not furloughing anyone from his operation. well negotiate is vice president biden because they have the flexibility. we had janet napolitano announce there were going to be 5,000 border guards furloughed and somehow magically they don't have to be furloughed. this isn't across the board. to impose this pain on the american people when the flexibility language is there is unconsciousable. it hurts afternoon every day people who are trying to fly. >> when my children were small and growing up and they wanted

to start making excuses for why they did not get something done, i would look at them and say could have, should have, would have does not solve the problem. that is basically what we are saying to the f.a.a. they knew that this was coming. they've had 18 months to make their plans. it is out of selfishness and foolishness that they have chosen to ignore what was coming their way. they've known it all along. their goal obviously is to make life uncomfortable for the aveling public and to be inflicting uncertainty on the 15,000 air traffic controlers. they knew it was coming but they made a decision not to address who was in front of them. instead they are inflicting a

time tax on every member of the traveling public. it is requiring more of their time to get processed on those flights and to their destination. could have, should have, would have. they made their decision and now people have figured them out. >> l.a., san francisco, san diego all three of the busiest airports in the nation, people traveling large distances. not only constituents being delayed as they travel or come to washington, d.c. but more importantly i've been talking to company that is utilize air travel to transport or gans or plasma and the delays that they are causing can also have devastating etchingts on your communities as well. lives are at risk when government decides to ash trarle pick a mode of

transportation and start playing around with those dynamics. the president, his plan was put into motion over a year and a half ago, yet he waits until just a week ago to start notifying air traffic controlers. t's irresponsible. >> as we've heard throughout this entire press conference, it's the administration putting politics over passengers. and i'd like to call on president obama to show some leadership right now and deal with this situation. make sure the f.a.a. is making the decisions that they should make. we've shown they have the flexibility to move their budget numbers around and make sure these furloughs don't affect passengers. they are not doing that. and president obama needs to how some leadership now.

>> mr. president this is the wrong way to run the railroad. it's the wrong way to run the skies of america. i'm from montgomery. flying in and out of our state is often a day long event. we're a large rural state without a major hub. that means a long day of traveling is the norm. the f.a.a. 4% spending reduction has resulted in the delay of over 40% of the flights significantly impeded air traffic operations in the most painful way possible. it is ridiculous that hardworking americans are cancelling summer trips because of the president and the f.a.a. would rather play politics than find real solutions and some common sense cuts. the president is putting politics ahead of passengers and it needs to end. you look at the data in

2001, there were approximately 30,000 departures a day. today there are 21,000. 2001 we were spending about $5 billion a year to manage that. day we are spending over $12 billion. 30% reduction in demand with an increase in cost which we have about the same number of air traffic controller and operation people, around 15,000 then and now. is it a people problem? it's not really a people problem because we have the resources there. we have too much human resources. if they are able to handle 30% more we may have over. it's not demand that's up that is causing the problem. it's not a resource issue. we've applied more than 100% increase to funding over time.

it's not people, it's not demand, it's not money. what is it? it's politics. it's how this town works. we need to tix it. thanks. -- fix it. thanks. >> i associate myself with the comments by my colleagues all. there is another aspect of this though that we must consider when looking at the irresponsible decisions being made by the president and the f.a.a. all across this country every day we have military flights both operatal and training 234r50eug9s. they too require a fully staffed and manned air traffic control operation. i spent 26 years in the air supports force and i have thousands of hours of instruction time teaching military pilots how to fly by instruments and navigation. i know how important the air traffic control network is. this is an irresponsible

position that the administration has taken. you've heard it documented, it's well known. they've got the flexibility to do the right thing. to cut administrative, to cut redundancy but leave air traffic controlers in their seats so they can keep the skies friendly and safe. mr. president. director of the f.a.a., you need to come back to the table and do your job. >> i got on the plane to come here earlier this week. i was outraged. they announced at the gait the plane has been delayed because of the furlough of the air traffic controlers and the sequester. we get on the plane and they back the plane up and the pilot gets on and says we've been sequestered and blamed on the

furloughs and all of that. i thought it was interested today we are seeing rorlts where air traffic controlers they've been told by management to inflict as much pain as possible on the american public. this is outrageous what this administration is doing. it's comparable to canceling the white house tours. it's interesting the $10 billion operationing bummingt almost $3 billion is non-operating they are not touching. consultants and travel and other activities, $150 million to maintain a fleet of 140 arkse of their own. they want to inflict pain on the american people. to pass higher taxes on the american public. >> you've all made clear here

you feel like f.a.a. has the authority already but the senate is working on some legislation that would explicit little grant that authority. is that something the house would ever take up? >> there are a couple of things they are talking about. we don't need to spend one more penny on the f.a.a. they have enough money to do this. they have the flexibility today to move money around to fund these operations. as was mentioned by my colleagues, you look at treasury and homeland security, they are able to do this without furloughing people. and these are essential to the safety of the traveling public. you start with the back office folks here in washington, d.c. that's where we should start. we'll take a look at what the senate proposes but i still believe they have the flexibility and not sure where the senate is going with this but we're in conversation with

them. >> if you feel the f.a.a. has flexibility, why look at what the senate is going to send you at all? >> we will consider what they are going to propose. i don't know exactly. i continue to stress if we are going to pass legislation maybe it should be for to us direct the f.a.a. to utilize the flexibility that they v. without giving them flexibility moving other dollars. but i've been resisting that because i think the f.a.a. managers if they are given the orders from the white house, from the secretary of transportation to get in there and figure it out they know best. we've been resistent on that. if that comes the case they won't do that we may consider directing them to deploy that flexibility. >> if you get rid of the essential air [inaudible] would any of you be willing to get rid of? >> this is not time to talk

ability big policy questions. it's a time to solve a problem hat we face today. >> hire is a look at our -- ere is a look at our prime time schedule.

>> earlier today on the floor of the houser kick cantor asked all members to attend a briefing form 340r7bing on sir yafment they will talk on intelligence reports that the -- an golvet has used lindsey gram spoke about syria's use of chemical weapons. just received a letter from the president in response to our assad about whether had used chemical weapons and i will quote from the operative

part. our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the regime has used chemical weapons in syria specifically the semical agent certain. and goes on to describe that. the president of the united states said if assad used chemical weapons, it would be a game changer and that it would cross a red line. i think it's obvious that red line has been crossed. now i hope the administration will consider what we've been recommended after two years of this blood letting and masacre and that is to provide a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no fly zone and provide weapons to the people in the resistence who we trust. everything that the non-interventionist said would

ppen in syria if we didn't intervene has happened. there are chemical weapons being used. the masacres continue. the russians are continuing to assist assad and the iranians are all n. it requires the united states assistance. it does not mean boots on the ground. finally we have to have operational capability to secure these chemical weapon stocks. we do not want them to fall into the wrong hands. and the wrong hand are a number of participants in the struggle that is taking place in syria. there are three primary goals that can be achieved if we act quickly. number one, secure the chemical weapons before they fall into the wrong hands. from my point of view, the

international community should be working with the syrian council the day after assad false that we secure the weapons and secure them so they can't be used against us or anyone else. secondly, contain this fighting so that the king of jordan does not fall. 480,000 refugees have flowed into jordan with no end in sight which they have been a stabilized influence in the middle east. jordan is under pressure from the effects of sir yafment the third is to control the inevitable war. we've let this go so long. if we would have listened to senator mccain a few years ago we wouldn't have this problem. here are 6,000 al qaeda type fighters in sir yafment the country is fragmenting and chaos is raining. the day assad false there will be as surely as i'm standing here a conflict between the

majority of syrians who want to move forward and live in peast and a radical gentleman had diss and that need to be planned for. the sooner assad leaves the better for the world. >> no questions. -- [inaudible] . >> we had a briefing on that. >> north korea? >> north korea the chinese still hold the key to north korea. there are some sign that is they are getting a little we'rey of the antics of this young man. but still it's a very dangerous situation. >> let me point out again the situation in syria is unacceptable. the president of the united states said this would be a red line if they used chemical

weapons. the president of the united states told us they used chemical weapons. those stocks of chemical weapons some of which are in disputed areas must be secured and we must give the opposition the cape tobblet drive out assad once and for all. and our relations with russian should be directly related to their assistance of assad. [inaudible] >> what is the assistance that the united states has lrp given? >> it's non-lethal. it's a half measure. you win wars by vth overwhelming force. the situation on the ground today is stalemate with the iranians and russians all in and the united states give them flabling flak jackets. that is not comrtg en scud missiles are hitting you.

>> can i say something about boston? >> boston is becoming to me a case study in system failure. just look at it from a 30,000 foot point of view. you have russian intelligence services contacting two agencies within our government responsible for our security. the f.b.i. and c.i.a. they tell us we believe you have a radical islamist in your midst. we do interviews and some things i think is responsible. however this suspected radical lamist is able to go back to russia without the f.b.i. being made aware of it even though homeland security was. that system failure almost 12 years after 9/11. and it gets worse. the suspected radical islamist, the person we got warning letters about is openly on the

internet for months talking about killing americans and engaging in radical gentleman had against the united states and we were unable to connect the dots and pick that up. the rest is history. between zobrist and boston our systems are failing and we are going backwards. ben lad din may be dead but the war against radical islam is alive and it's on the march and we need to up our game. >> [inaudible] >> no. >> in a few moments today's dedication ceremony for the in e w. bush dedication dallas. then the bipartisan

>> i went in, i walked into the neyle kiosk, i said i'm bob her to report. gardcame up as we walked down of youraid i knew one campaign managers in ohio. i said, ok. in there, the guard said, here, you have some hate mail -- it was from california and massachusetts -- they give mail.e you go through the strip-down and then i got into the intake, walked into prison, down into the courtyard. i won't use the same language i use in the warden told the man, get away from him, he can find his own way and i'm